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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — to play on
  4. roll — a cake
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — an injury
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wound — an injury
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. rest — a break
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wake — a trail
  22. swing — music
  23. roll — a list
  24. wake — before a funeral

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com